What's in a name?
by tiff0795
Summary: Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Astrid, and Hiccup have always wondered where their names came from.  A lot of original characters on my part as we go into the long story of how these teens got their names.  Rated T just to be safe on the birthing parts.


Arid Summer Hofferson was only five when her parents split up. Her parents, Sara Beth and Meatgrub, had married when they where eighteen. They conceived Arid two years later.

Arid was tall and lean, but very smart and quick on her feet. She had long, wavy brown hair and turquoise eyes. She was strong-willed and stubborn, but what Viking is not? She was persistent and curious. She did not have a very good attention span, which she got from her mother. She had a heart of gold.

There was never really any fighting from what Arid could see. Her father was back and forth, finishing up a quest, and her mother stayed at home with her.

Meatgrub came back when Arid was three and for a year everything was wonderful. When Arid turned four, however, things all went down hill.

There was a lot of fighting between Sara Beth and Meatgrub. They tried not to fight in front of Arid, but she could still sense some tension between them.

Then, they finally broke the news to Arid.

In Berk at this time, it was extremely rare that someone got divorced. It took a long time for it to get finalized, but it did.

Arid was not worried about it. The tension had stopped and both parents seemed happy. She only wished that she was able to witness them happy together, though.

Stoick the Vast felt sorry for the young Viking. Every year on her birthday, they threw a party for her. The whole isle was invited. A woman named Asia did the decorating.

Sara Beth and Meatgrub always got along at the parties for their daughter's sake. They took fondly of Stoick and Asia for putting this together for Arid every year.

Sara Beth, after three years of knowing Stoick asked if she could stay with him. Meatgrub did the same with Asia.

Arid went back and forth between both of her parents. There where both within walking distance of each other. Sometimes, when Arid did not want to stay at either of her houses, she went to Lilly and Pureblood Thorston's house.

Arid was the only child on the isle of Berk. She had befriended a married couple, Lilly and Pureblood, because they lived between her two homes. The three couples all got along quite nicely.

If she went a little behind her house with her mother and followed the creak west, she would reach her Uncle Spitelout and Aunt Arrow's house. They where her mother's brother and his wife. She was fond of them and they were also friends.

Then, Sara Beth asked her daughter if she could marry Stoick. Now, Stoick had already asked her, and she said it was fine. Soon afterwards, Meatgrub asked his daughter if her could marry Asia. She said yes. Stoick announced the weddings to all of Berk. They had a double wedding. Everybody on the isle came. So now, eight year old Arid was the only Viking on the isle to have two intermediate families.

The next year came the boom. Arid thought it must have been something in the water. Sara Beth, Asia, Lilly, and Arrow where all pregnant. All of the due dates where about the same time from what they understood. Arrow was the first to give birth.

She gave birth to a baby boy. Arid went over to her aunt and uncle's house to see the baby. They said his name was Snotlout. They asked Arid if she would like to give him his middle name. Arid gave it some thought, then said Eaglemoon. So that was the baby's middle name. Then, the others gave Arid permission to name their baby when they came.

About a year later, Arid was with Lilly. Lilly, Sara Beth, and Asia where due soon. How soon, nobody knew. So ten year old Arid was talking with Lilly. Arid had been watching her younger cousin for a while now, and Lilly wanted to know how it was going. Arid was about to tell her when she saw something. Lilly's water broke.

Arid did not know what to do. She know the baby was coming. She looked outside and saw Stoick outside the house. She yelled at him that Lilly was giving birth and to get Pureblood. Stoick nodded and Arid went back inside. She saw Lilly in the proper position to deliver. Arid looked around. She knew that babies needed warmth. She grabbed a blanket off of a chair.

She saw the baby's head. She stood in front of it like a catcher. It eventually came out. She dried the baby of blood. He was a boy and screaming at the top of his lungs. His mother was, also. After a while, the baby was dry and Arid had it calm and warm. Lilly, on the other hand, had not stopped screaming since the baby was born. Pureblood came in and saw the commotion. He took his son from Arid. Arid went to see if everything was ok with Lilly, but instead found another baby head.

Without thinking, she grabbed another blanket and redid what she did fifteen minutes ago. A baby girl came out, but something was wrong. Arid noticed that the baby was not crying. Without thinking, she turned the baby girl over and tapped her on the back. Arid held her breath, then let it out when the baby started crying. She dried off the baby and warmed her up. The baby girl stopped crying. She looked up at Arid. She had ice blue eyes.

Pureblood handed the baby boy to Lilly and Arid handed her the baby girl. Arid said the girl should be named Ruffnut Icebreak Thorston and the boy should be named Tuffnut Rockstrike Thorston. These where the baby's names, no questions asked.

Three months later, she was with Lilly and Arrow watching Snotlout, tuff nut, and Ruffnut when Pureblood barged in the door. He told Arid that Asia was having her baby. Arid gave Lilly and Arrow a pleading look. With a nod, the two women let her go free.

She ran to her father's house for all she was worth. Her father was in front of Asia, waiting for the baby to come out. Arid begged Meatgrub to let her deliver her little sister, but Meatgrub refused, saying that it was far too big of a job for a ten year old to do. True, she was only ten, but by her height and her maturity level, you would swear she was at least thirteen. She stomped her foot and made her father recall that she had helped deliver Ruffnut and Tuffnut three months back, but her father told her to go out and get the bushel of fish out for Asia to eat when she was done. With a scowl, she turned on her heels. A little while later, she came back with a basket full of fish. The sight that stood before her almost made her drop the fish and storm away to her mother's house.

Asia lay on the bed, holding a small child. Meatgrub knelt beside her. She almost yelled at the top of her lungs why they did not call her when the baby was coming out. Then Asia noticed her stepdaughter. She motioned for Arid to come stand by her. Arid obeyed and Asia asked if she would like to hold her sister.

Arid forgot all the anger she felt just a moment ago. She eagerly nodded and Asia handed the baby girl to her. This baby already had blond hair. She opened her eyes and Arid saw that they where blue.

Asia asked what her name should be. Arid decided on Astrid Esther Hofferson. She said Astrid was a mix between Asia and Arid, just like the baby was. When they asked her about the middle name, Arid said it meant star.

A month later, Arid was sitting with her mother. She was about to go watch Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Astrid. When Arid was going to go, Sara Beth asked if she could stay with her for a little bit. Arid agreed. It was her mother, after all, she would explain later. Stoick was out on a quest that he really did not want to take, due to the baby, but he had to and left Sara Beth alone, leaving Arid to look after her mother.

Sara Beth was starting to get up, but moaned in pain and sat down. Arid's heart skipped a beat. They where not expecting the baby until Stoick got home from the quest, but here Sara Beth was, in labor. Arid told her mother to breath. Sara Beth told her daughter to go get someone, but Arid said there was not enough time, she could already see the head. She grabbed her blanket from when she was little, that she was saving especially for this moment. She stood in front of the baby and waited. It was a healthy baby boy. Arid wiped the blood off of her little brother and held him close. She went over to Sara Beth and they where both cooing over the new baby.

After a half an hour, Lilly, Asia, and Arrow came in with their children. The children where crying for Arid, especially the twins. The women asked how she expects to deliver four babies, and not be there for them. She said that she did not plan to, and then walked her little brother over to her friends.

When the last baby was born, everybody was wondering what name Arid would give her little brother. She said his name was Hiccup. Everybody asked why Hiccup. She said because a hiccup is an unexpected sensation when too much air gets into your lungs to make it level out. She said that no one really expected Hiccup, and he came to level out Berk. He would be the next heir to the Hooligan tribe, and he would sooth chaos, give exhilaration to boring areas, and arise at completely unexpected times. Plus, he is stubborn, like all Vikings are, so he will interrupt anything they said if he did not like it. To make it true to his family name, she named him Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. She also said that it made him sound official.

So, Arid helped deliver the five children that where born on the isle of Berk. Fishlegs did not move in until the kids where about three. Stoick said that they would have a class on dragon training just for them. Arid was talking about how good they would be, and how fast Astrid will be with an ax and how skillful Hiccup will be with a sword when Stoick gave her some unwanted news. He said that girls do not fight dragons, only the boys.

Arid was shocked by this. True, she never liked the idea of killing dragons, but she wanted Ruffnut and Astrid to have the opportunity to do so if they pleased. She said she wanted to learn how to fight with a sword. Stoick said that no one would let girls in. Being a Viking, Arid was not going to take that sitting down. She was now thirteen, and she could decide for herself what she wanted to do. She begged her step dad to teach her sword techniques. He said how much he would love to, but just could not. Arid asked if there was anything she could do. Stoick eventually said that if she finds anyone that would teach a girl to fight a dragon, she could do it.

Arid immediately turned to Gobber the Belch. He was reluctant to do it at first, until Arid said that she had direct permission from the chief to take the class if she could find anyone to do it. Gobber said that no one would let him teach the class, that everyone thought he was crazy. Arid said that he knew how to do it, and that was more than she knew. It did not matter if he was crazy, a lot of people will think she is crazy for doing this. That convinced Gobber.

He took her and trained her every day. Finally, Gobber said she was ready to kill her first dragon. Stoick was directly against the idea. Arid told him that the whole reason she did this was so her sister and Ruffnut could do this if they wanted to. The only way they could do that is if they got treated like Snotlout, Tuffnut, Hiccup, and Fishlegs. The only way they would figure out if it would work is if she fought the dragon. This was her test, but it was also the test of the entire tribe. She made a deal with Stoick. If she won, girls could go into dragon training. If she lost, it would be a boys only sport. Stoick agreed, not knowing how deadly his stepdaughter is with a sword in her hand.

The day finally came. She did not want to kill a dragon, but she must. Unless she did some quick thinking on her feet, which she was known for. The dragon let loose. Arid defended herself against the slashes of the dragon and leapt out of the way of the fire. She tried to remember all she could about dragons. You could stun a dragon, which is what she planned to do. She slashed the dragon in the right spots to stun it. She said they had stun in, but had not yet killed it. So she tied it up and drug it all alone to Raven's point. Stoick could not believe it, but his stepdaughter was still alive, not a scratch on her. He announced that girls where now aloud to participate in the dragon training.

All of this because of one girl. One girl delivered the next generation of Vikings and paved the way for all female Vikings after her. She helped bring five children into Berk, and did her part in raising them. She was loved by all the Vikings on the isle, young and old. All this from one little girl named Arid Summer Hofferson. When Arid was born, Berk indeed got a breath of fresh, warm summer air.

Gobber looked in the eyes of five dumbfounded teenaged Vikings. They had asked for the umpteenth time where there names came from. Gobber finally got tired of them asking that and just told them the story.

"Gobber, is all of that true?" Hiccup said.

"As true as you are standing here right now," Gobber said.

"But how can all of that be real?" Ruffnut asked.

"I can prove it to ya, right here on the spot," Gobber said.

"How can you possibly do that?" Snotlout asked.

"Well, are you and Hiccup cousins?" Gobber asked. Snotlout looked at the fire that was blazing bright orange.

"Well, yes," Snotlout said.

"Hiccup, Astrid, do you two have a half sister named Arid?" Gobber said. The two Vikings nodded.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, do you know Arid on a personal basis?" Gobber asked the twins. The twins looked at each other then quickly looked at Gobber and nodded.

"Snotlout, are you about a year older than these four," Gobber said, gesturing to the rest of the group. Snotlout nodded.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, your birthday is sometime in April. Astrid, your birthday is sometime at the beginning of August. Hiccup, your birthday is sometime in mid September. Am I correct?" Gobber said. They all gave a universal nod.

"Astrid, Ruffnut, you two are in dragon training, no?" Gobber said.

"We are," Astrid said.

"And your names are all right with the story, right?" Gobber said.

"Right," Tuffnut said.

"Well, then what's not to believe? All the evidence is right here in front of ya," Gobber said.

"But it just doesn't make sense. After she did all that stuff for us, and was that important in our lives, why did she leave?" Hiccup asked.

"And what about her parents?" Astrid asked.

"Well, that right there is another story all together. A story that we do not have time for tonight. Now, it's time to get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow," Gobber said. The teenagers wanted to protest, but Gobber learned his lesson from Arid. He threw a bucket of cold water on the fire before the young Vikings could say another word.


End file.
